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Research Topic

About this Research Topic

In her Education Week response to the teachers of color “disappearance crisis,” Gloria Ladson-Billings wrote: “The current statistics indicate that class after class of children--Black, Native American, Latino, and Asian--go through entire school careers without ever having a teacher of their same race or ethnicity.” With increasingly diverse students in today’s classrooms, schools’ administrative and teaching leadership should reflect these diverse populations. However, both teachers and administrators of color represent only 18 and 20 percent of the K-12 workforce, respectively, while non-white students constitute a little over 50 percent of the public-school student population. The shortage of school leaders of color has its disadvantages, e.g., higher suspension rates and criminalization of petty infractions. Ladson-Billings, on the other hand, concludes that race is not as much a factor as is quality. Children of color, she states, “do not need Black teachers or White teachers, but they need ‘good’ teachers.” But, what does it mean to be a ‘good’ teacher or leader for these children? The growing school choice movement provides a wealth of data that suggest effective leaders, both nonwhite and white, are impacting the academic achievement and educational outcomes of students of color.

The topic of teacher and school leader diversity has gained more traction in the last 30 years. The collected studies in this Research Topic seek to expand the growing research on school diversity, educational leadership, and educational effectiveness. They explore many of the recurring themes of these expansive areas including cultural competency, community, and shared capital in order to answer the central questions: 1) What was lost and gained since desegregation?, 2) What are the benefits of having effective educational leaders, whether nonwhite or white, in re-segregated school spaces?, 3)What are the experiences of educational leaders and students in re-segregated school spaces?, and 4) What does effective educational leadership look like in re-segregated school spaces?

Research paper submissions that explore the experiences, perceptions, and behaviors of institutional members in majority schools, analyze the role of shared capital between students of color and their teachers, and present (counter)narratives of cultural competency, community, and shared capital among teachers of color who work in schools with a plethora or lack of workplace diversity are welcome.

Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

In her Education Week response to the teachers of color “disappearance crisis,” Gloria Ladson-Billings wrote: “The current statistics indicate that class after class of children--Black, Native American, Latino, and Asian--go through entire school careers without ever having a teacher of their same race or ethnicity.” With increasingly diverse students in today’s classrooms, schools’ administrative and teaching leadership should reflect these diverse populations. However, both teachers and administrators of color represent only 18 and 20 percent of the K-12 workforce, respectively, while non-white students constitute a little over 50 percent of the public-school student population. The shortage of school leaders of color has its disadvantages, e.g., higher suspension rates and criminalization of petty infractions. Ladson-Billings, on the other hand, concludes that race is not as much a factor as is quality. Children of color, she states, “do not need Black teachers or White teachers, but they need ‘good’ teachers.” But, what does it mean to be a ‘good’ teacher or leader for these children? The growing school choice movement provides a wealth of data that suggest effective leaders, both nonwhite and white, are impacting the academic achievement and educational outcomes of students of color.

The topic of teacher and school leader diversity has gained more traction in the last 30 years. The collected studies in this Research Topic seek to expand the growing research on school diversity, educational leadership, and educational effectiveness. They explore many of the recurring themes of these expansive areas including cultural competency, community, and shared capital in order to answer the central questions: 1) What was lost and gained since desegregation?, 2) What are the benefits of having effective educational leaders, whether nonwhite or white, in re-segregated school spaces?, 3)What are the experiences of educational leaders and students in re-segregated school spaces?, and 4) What does effective educational leadership look like in re-segregated school spaces?

Research paper submissions that explore the experiences, perceptions, and behaviors of institutional members in majority schools, analyze the role of shared capital between students of color and their teachers, and present (counter)narratives of cultural competency, community, and shared capital among teachers of color who work in schools with a plethora or lack of workplace diversity are welcome.

Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

About Frontiers Research Topics

With their unique mixes of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author.